Background

For many potential solar customers, installing a system at their home or business may seem impossible or undesirable. On-site systems require certain roof and site characteristics—such as adequate unshaded space—and rely on permission from the property owner, who may not live or work on the property. Community solar programs give customers alternative pathways to access solar by enabling them to share solar generation from an on- or off-site solar energy system with multiple end users.

Community solar programs can be managed by for-profit or nonprofit organizations, but they are most often utility driven. While the number of community solar programs across the country has grown, there remains enormous potential to expand, improve, and replicate these programs nationwide

Through Solar Market Pathways, projects worked to:

Enable more people, businesses, and communities to participate in community solar programs.

Develop and implement programs in markets that have not previously had community solar.

Identify best practices and consumer preferences to improve existing program models.

Standardize community solar models to reduce costs and simplify program development and implementation.

Related Projects

In Illinois, the Cook CountyDepartment of Environmental Control developed case studies and replicable models to enable more Cook County businesses and residents—including seniors and low-income apartment and condominium residents—to benefit from community solar.

The Community Solar Value Project worked with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and other utilities to develop a community solar program model that offers a new approach to demand response and forms part of a larger effort to reinvent utility systems for the 21st century.

The Center for Sustainable Energy helped more multi-tenant buildings take advantage of solar energy by expanding awareness, effectiveness, and use of Virtual Net Energy Metering (VNEM) in California and beyond.

Toolkit

This toolkit provides a suite of resources to guide the development of, and investment in, community solar and equip diverse stakeholders with tools to navigate relevant policy issues, program design and implementation, and consumer and community engagement. The resources in this toolkit are built for the audiences they serve—utilities, policy makers, investors and financiers; the renewable energy industry; and residential and non-residential end users. The toolkit may also be helpful for community groups and local governments interested in advancing community solar in their respective localities.

Fundamentals of Community Solar

Community solar programs give consumers an alternative to placing solar on their own property and enables multiple participants to benefit from electricity generated by a shared solar energy system, which is typically located off site. These programs offer great potential for long-term growth—between 2015 and 2020, cumulative community solar installations could constitute 5.5-11 GW of solar PV for residential and non-residential customers.

As a starting point for those who want to develop community solar projects, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory produced A Guide to Community Solar, providing a detailed overview of the different community solar ownership models for utility, private, and nonprofit projects.

The tools in the Solar Energy Resource Center provide an overview of key concepts, offering a helpful resource for those seeking to learn more about community solar issues, program designs, and models.

Resources

Tool:Community Solar BasicsCommunity Solar Basics

Author: IREC

A checklist to help guide decision-makers and program designers as they develop community solar programs, and useful relevant additional resources for reference.

Policy

Utilities, customers, decision-makers, and other stakeholders should understand, and take into account, important policy considerations that may affect community solar program design and implementation. There are a number of policy options—including virtual net metering, group net metering, meter aggregation, and group billing—that enable community solar, and various resources available for exploring these options.

Program Design and Implementation

There are many ways to design and implement a community solar program involving different business models, program design considerations, and project implementation tools.

Across the country there are a growing number of community solar projects, several of which were developed into case studies as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Community Solar Partnership. Utility cooperatives and developers are working to streamline procurement, coordinate installation, drive down solar costs, and make solar more accessible for residents of all income levels. It is important for these organizations—developers, utilities, and nonprofits alike—to consider barriers to participation—such as income level—for potential energy program customers. Enabling policy guidelines and program design recommendations help ensure community solar programs are designed to be effective for all end users, especially low- to moderate-income consumers.

To foster utility-led community solar models closely aligned with the needs and interests of consumers and stakeholders, the Smart Electric Power Alliance published a report on 12 key community solar design decisions, surveying existing community solar programs and providing case studies for the most prevalent models. The types of utility-owned community solar projects outlined in this report are becoming increasingly prevalent across the U.S., especially among publicly owned utilities.

This website provides resources to help utilities evaluate and customize internal processes as they work to develop community solar programs and projects. This toolkit serves as a tool for unifying diverse team members and as a checklist of key program-design considerations.

Finance

Understanding project economics, as well as available financing tools, is critical to successful community solar program design and implementation.The Community Solar Business Case Tool provides a flexible financial model that projects the costs and benefits to the system developer and subscriber of a single community solar project. Stakeholders can use this tool to determine the value proposition of investing in community solar.

Utility billing and bill-crediting mechanisms are key to allocating benefits to participants, but they have been a barrier for some programs and states. Cook County’s Utility Billing Impacts of Community Solar presentation analyzes potential bill-crediting processes for subscriber management of community solar projects.

Utility-led community solar programs have options for structuring and financing that vary based on the structure of utility (investor-owned, municipal utility, or cooperative), state policies, and upcoming changes to the federal solar tax incentives.

Tool:Private Letter Ruling on the Eligibility of an Individual Panel ...Private Letter Ruling on the Eligibility of an Individual Panel Owner in an Offsite, Net-Metered Community-Shared Solar Project to Claim the Section 25D Tax Credit

Author: Internal Revenue Service

From the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) determining that an owner of PV panels in an offsite community shared solar garden is eligible for the residential tax credit.

Consumer and Community Engagement

The Smart Electric Power Alliance provides insights into consumer preferences for solar in a summary report of two new surveys of U.S. energy customers. It includes methods for identifying and marketing to the right audiences for community solar. To engage contractors, property owners, and developers, the Multifamily Online Solar Marketplace offers a process to simplify complex multifamily solar projects by providing resources and assistance for making smart solar decisions, and to help property owners easily gather and compare solar quotes. Multifamily and contractor toolkits featuring roadmaps, checklists, and worksheets guide solar deployment for apartment and condominium communities. These toolkits also include interconnection resources and a group of interactive multifamily density maps to aid in targeting outreach regions and acquiring customers.

Resources

Tool:Shared Solar NYC PortalShared Solar NYC Portal

Author: Sustainable CUNY

This platform connects community shared solar developers to interested owners of potential host sites, including rooftops and open land.

Case study:Selling Out 1.55 MW of Community Solar in 7 Weeks: Inside the ...Selling Out 1.55 MW of Community Solar in 7 Weeks: Inside the City of Fremont, Nebraska‘s Community Solar Program

Author: SEPA

This case study covers the importance of knowing customer concerns and needs when building community solar programs. It includes a discussion of the value of community solar to commercial and industrial customers.